A visit by President Jacques Chirac to Libya Wednesday is the first ever by a French head of state since independence in 1951 and confirms maverick leader Moamer Kadhafi's gradual return to international respectability. For France the trip is also the chance to stake a claim for lucrative business contracts which should follow Kadhafi's promise to liberalise the oil-rich country's heavily-controlled economy. Accompanied by three ministers and a delegation of business leaders, Chirac spends Wednesday night in Tripoli before flying to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso for the biennial summit of French-speaking nations.Talks with Kadhafi will focus on Iraq, Africa, terrorism and economic cooperation, Chirac's spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said. The fate of five Bulgarians sentenced to death for causing an outbreak of Aids will also be brought up. Chirac's visit follows meetings this year between Kadhafi and other European leaders including Britain's Tony Blair, Gerhard Schroeder of Germany and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, all likewise bent on encouraging Libya's rehabilitation and also pitching for economic favours.
